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iii^ii.iiv 



Ub(c lllniversits ot Cbicago 

FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER 



A PRELIMINARY STUDY 



OF 



THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

NEW MEXICO 



A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTIES OF THE GRADUATE 

SCHOOLS OF ARTS, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE, IN CANDIDACY 

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 







BY 

MERTON LELAND MILLER 



CHICAGO 
XLbc Tllnlverslts of Cbicago iprcss 




ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 

Taos Valley, 5 ; discovery of Taos by the Spaniards, 6 ; houses 
now occupied at Taos not those in use when discovered, 9 ; resistance 
offered to the Spaniards, 10; linguistic relations of the Pueblos of 
New Mexico, 11 ; origin of Taos people, 13; numbers of the Pueblo 
Indians, 13; land tenure, 15; location of Taos, 16; irrigation, 17; 
houses, 1 8 ; ovens, 20 ; produce and mode of agriculture, 2 1 ; plows, 2 2 ; 
harvesting, 22 ; hunting, 23: work of the women, 23; kivas, form, use, 
location, and number, 24; dress, 27; hair dressing, 30 ; civil organiza- 
tion, 31 ; clans, 34 ; marriage, 35 ; mode of reckoning time, 35 ; seasons, 
36; communal work, 36; communal hunts, 36; language, 37; personal 
names, 38 ; people at Taos from other Pueblos, 38 ; religion, 39 ; 
force of custom among Indians, 41 ; difficulties in learning Indian 
traditions, 42 ; myths and traditions, 42. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 

This brief account of the Pueblo of Taos is the result mainly of a 
three-months' visit at the Pueblo in the summer of 1896. Now that a 
few friends have been made there, it is hoped that at a later time a more 
complete and thorough study may be made. 

The repeated references to the Papers of the Archceological Institute 
of America show how much I am indebted to the writings of Mr. A. F. 
Bandelier. 

In spelling the few native names which occur in this study and 
which I have not seen mentioned before, I have followed the alphabet 
given in Powell's Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages. 

M. L. M. 



A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF 
TAOS, NEW MEXICO. 



One of the most attractive valleys in New Mexico is that of Taos. 
It is situated in the center of the northern part of the territory, not 
many miles from the Colorado line. Shut in by the Taos range of the 
Rocky mountains on the east and by the mesas which border the Rio 
Grande on the west, it is today, as it has been in the past, one of the 
best watered, greenest, and most fertile valleys in the Southwest. The 
one thing above all others needed in New Mexico is water. Taos 
valley, while it has not an over-abundant supply, has enough to enable 
the people to irrigate as much as they wish, except in unusually dry 
seasons. The several streams which water the valley, the principal of 
which are Lucerro, Pueblo, Taos, and Fernandez creeks, are rarely 
entirely dry, unless the water is turned aside into the acequias, the 
large irrigating ditches which run from every stream. Perhaps no 
crops, excepting maize, the staple Indian product, could be raised 
without irrigation. " Corn may grow on elevated table mountains or 
plateaus that are hundreds, nay thousands, of feet above a spring or 
brook." ' Under such circumstances the water must be economically 
used, and often in midsummer, when the snow on the mountains has 
melted, must be used continuously day and night, as the supply is not 
large enough to permit many to irrigate at the same time. 

The valley owes its fertility and attractiveness in large part to its 
altitude and its location in the mountains, whose melting snows supply 
the streams. Its elevation is over 7,000 feet. In the summer days, 
when the sun shines, as it does during the greater part of the warmer 
season, it is very hot, but the air is so dry that one does not seriously 
feel the heat ; and as soon as the sun sets the air is very cool and 
refreshing, often, after a very hot day, even chilly. 

The report of the first geological survey of this region contains a 
notice which is interesting because it helps to show how attractive 
Taos valley has appeared to everyone who has seen it, not merely as 
compared with other less favored parts of New Mexico, but when com- 

' Papers of the Archaological Institute of America, American Series, III, p. 156. 

5 



6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

pared with other regions better supplied with water. " The Taos Basin 
has, perhaps, a larger amount of tillable land in one compact body 
than is to be found similarly situated in any other part of the area. 
The soil is admirable, being derived from the Archaean and Carbonif- 
erous with no small admixture of volcanic material ; while at but a 
few inches below the surface is a tufaceous limestone, which cannot 
fail to be a constant amendment to the soil. Water is supplied by 
large streams — Pueblo, Ferdinand, and Frijole creeks. A population 
of not far from 10,000 inhabits this basin, and yet a large part of the 
land is still wild." ' 

Mr. Poore, in his report, contained in a Census Bulletin on the 
Pueblo Indians, says : " It would be difficult to find in the west, where 
farming is dependent upon irrigation, a more desirable tract of land 
than that owned by these Indians. The water, carried in subwater- 
ways, or acequias, commands a large portion of the reservation.'"' 

Eight or ten miles west of the valley flows the Rio Grande. As 
one looks westward he sees only the low line of the mesas and many 
miles farther, though it seems but few, the irregular outline of the dis- 
tant ranges of the Rocky mountains. No sign of the Rio Grande flow- 
ing between its cafion walls can be seen. Far to the south rise the 
nearer, but still distant, heights of the Mora range, beyond which lies 
the city of Santa Fe. To the north stretches the gently sloping mesa 
as far as the eye can see, rising gradually toward the east and 
merging into the foothills of the Taos range. This valley, which the 
American and the Mexican find so attractive, the Indian had discov- 
ered and occupied before the white man came. Toward its northern 
end and close to the foothills on the eastern side, under the very 
shadow of the towering Taos peak, the Spaniards, when they first 
visited the country, found the Indian pueblo of Taos, or Te-uat-ha,^ as 
it was called in the native idiom. Taos was then, as it is today, the 
most northerly of the pueblos and has, perhaps, the best location. 

The account of the first visit of the Spaniards to Taos, as given by 
Castaneda, presents a difficulty which it may be well to state even if 

' " U. S. Geographical Survey West of looth Meridian," III, Supplement : Geology, 
pp. 364-5. 

* " Eleventh Census of the U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo Indiatzs of 
Arizona and Pueblo Indians of JVew Mexico, p. 1 00. 

'i Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 123. Bandelier states that the name Taos is 
corrupted from the Tehua word Ta-ui, 77/ 1? Gilded Alan, p. 149, footnote. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 7 

no light be thrown on the matter. In 1540 Coronado had set out 
from Mexico for the north and particularly to search for the rich and 
popular city of Quivira, of which he had heard. After he and his 
company had reached Cibola (Zufii), Hernando d'Alvarado was sent 
on ahead with twenty men to accompany certain Indians who had 
come from villages to the east to see the strangers. Alvarado was to 
return in eighty days. " Alvarado partit done avec eux. Cinq jours 
apres ils arriverent a un village nomme Acuco, qui est construit sur un 
rocher. Les habitants qui peuvent mettre sur pied environ deux cents 

guerriers sont des brigands redoutes dans toute la province A 

trois journees de la, Alvarado et les siens arriverent dans une province 

que Ton nomme Tiguex A cinq journees de la, Alvarado arriva 

a Cicuye, village tres-fortifie, et dont les maisons ont quatre etages.'" 

When Don Tristan d'Arellano reached Cibola with the rest of the 
army, Coronado ordered him to allow the army a rest of twenty days 
and then to follow the road which he himself was about to take to 
Tiguex. At Tiguex Coronado found Alvarado awaiting him. Later 
they were joined by Arellano with the arm}'. Some time was spent 
here till, finally, the people rose in revolt because of the excessive 
demands made upon 'them by the soldiers. While the siege of Tiguex 
was in progress, Coronado went on to Cicuye and from this latter point 
set out on his long march to the northeast. When he had been on his 
way for some days, provisions began to run short, so the army was sent 
back under command of Arellano, and Coronado went on with only a 
few men. 

In July or late in June, 1 541, Arellano reached Tiguex on his return 
march. He then "donna ordre au capitaine Francisco de Barrio-Nuevo 
de remonter le fieuve avec quelques soldats, dans la direction du nord. 
Cet officier visita deux provinces ; I'une se nommait Hemes, et renfer- 
mait sept villages ; I'autre Yuque-Yunque." The inhabitants of Yuque- 
Yunque " se retirerent dans les montagnes, ou ils en avaient quatre 
autres fortifies, dans une situation tres-difficile : Ton ne pouvait y par- 

venir avec les chevaux A vingt iieues plus loin, en remontant 

la riviere, il y avait un grand et puissant village que Ton nommait 
Braba, les notres lui donnerent le nom de Valladolid. II etait bati sur 
les deux rives du fleuve, que Ton traversait sur les ponts construits en 
madriers de pins, tres-bien equarris. L'on vit dans ce village les etuves 

' " Relation du Voyage de Cibola par Pedro de Castaiieda de Nagera." H. Ter- 
naux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, pp. 69-71. 



8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

les plus grandes et les plus extraordinaires de tout le pays. Elles 
etaient soutenues par douze pilliers, dont chacun avait deux brasses de 
tour et deux toises de haut. Le capitaine Hernando d'Alvarado avait 
deja visite ce village en allant a la decouverte de Cicuye. La contree 
est fort elevee et tres-froide ; la riviere qui I'arrose est fort profonde et 
rapide, et on n'y trouve pas de gue. De la, le capitaine Barrio-Nuevo 
revint au camp, apres avoir laisse tout le pays parfaitement tran- 
quille." ' 

\\\ the identification of the villages mentioned in this account of 
Castaneda there is some difference of opinion. Cibola, it is generally 
agreed, is Zuiii. Acuco, it is also generally agreed, is Acoma. Tiguex 
has been located by Mr. W. W. H. Davis on the Rio Puerco, which 
joins the Rio Grande near the present town of La Joya." Mr. Simp- 
son places it " on the Rio Grande, below the Rio Puerco, at the foot of 
the Socorro mountains."^ Mr. Bandelier believes it was near the site 
of the modern Bernalillo on the Rio Grande. Mr. Simpson and Mr- 
Bandelier both place Cicuye at Pecos, while Mr. Davis places it on the 
Rio Grande, "somewhere in the valley of the Guadalupe, and but a 
few miles from its mouth. "•* Now, it will be noticed that Alvarado, in 
his march from Cibola to Cicuye, traveled from Cibola to Acoma in 
five days, from Acoma to Tiguex in three days, and from Tiguex to 
Cicuye in five days more. But if Tiguex and Cicuye were at any one 
of the places which have been suggested, and if the Braba mentioned 
by Castaiieda we're situated where Taos is today, it is difficult to see how 
Alvarado could have reached Cicuye in the time he did, if he went so 
far north as Taos, which is over sixty miles in a direct line north of 
Pecos. It is further hard to understand how he could have reached 
Taos without having seen or heard of the Tehua pueblos of Tesuque, 
Nambe, Pojuaque, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan. If 
these identical villages did not exist then, there were, nevertheless, 
Tehua Indians in the same general region. Again, the river which 
waters Taos valley is referred to as very deep and rapid, and as 
having no fords. In the whole valley today there is no stream 
which will answer this description, nor is it easy to suppose that 

' H. Ternaux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, pp. 137-9. 

* W. \V. H. Davis, The Spanish Conqtiest of New Mexico, p. 185, note I. 
3 General Simpson, "Coronado's March," Smithsonian Report, 1869, p. 335. 
'^Papers Arch. Inst, of Ainer., I, p. 17. Davis, The Spanish Conquest of New 
Mexico, p. 198, note i. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 9 

the streams which now water the valley were once so deep that 
they could not be forded. Today one can ford any of the streams 
at almost any point on foot. The reference may be to the Rio Grande, 
though it certainly does not water that part of the valley in which Taos 
pueblo is situated. And yet Mr. Bandelier says of the identity of Braba 
and Taos " it is unmistakable." ' Certainly the description of the village 
as being built upon the two banks of a stream which one could cross 
on bridges made of well-squared timbers is in exact accord with the 
conditions at Taos today. I find no reference in Mr. Bandelier's reports 
to Alvarado's visit to Taos, but Mr. Davis says, "Up to the point where 
the army was left upon the plains, the Spaniards had passed through 
the following provinces, which are given in the words of Castaneda." == 
Then follows the list, which includes " Valladolid or Braba," and ends 
with the statement, " Tiguex is the central point, and Valladolid the 
last toward the North-east." 

This question of location is apart from the other question, whether 
the people are today living in the same buildings which the Spaniards 
saw. Mr. Bandelier positively says: "With the exception of Acoma, 
there is not a sipgle pueblo standing where it was at the time of Coro- 
nado, or even sixty years later, when Juan de Ofiate accomplished the 
peaceable reduction of the New Mexican village Indians." ^ 

It is not particularly significant in this connection, but it may be 
noted that at Taos, only a few rods east from the present houses, are 
the ruins of older buildings. They are little more than a heap of 
earth and loose stones, but one can occasionally find a very distinct 
fragment of an old wall built of adobe bricks of a different form from 
those now made by the Taos people. The people themselves say, and 
it is undoubtedlv true, that in the old days adobe bricks were not made, 
but a wall was built by laying one layer of mud on another, and simply 
allowing time for each layer to dry. They further say that not long 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., I, p. 23, footnote. 

""The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, p. 221. 

'^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 34. 

I do not know what Mr. Bandelier's authority is for making- this statement, but, 
in view of the well-known fact that the pueblo peoples have so often moved their 
towns, it seems safe enough without evidence to the contrary to hold this view. I 
notice that Mr. Prince says : " In several instances, as at Taos and in the western 
pueblos, the people are now living in identically the same houses which were then (when 
Columbus discovered America) occupied."'--L. B. Prince, Historical Sketches of New 
Mexico, p. 31. 



lO STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

ago there were other ruins just across the little stream. So it may easily 
be that these ruins, to which the people still point as their former 
homes, situated with reference to the creek just as are the houses of 
today, are what is left of the houses which the Spaniards saw. 

Taos appears several times prominently in opposition to the Span- 
iards. Possibly its position farther from Spanish influence, or the 
necessit)' which the people were under of defending themselves from 
their enemies, enabled it to maintain its independence more effectively 
than the villages farther south. 

Some time after 1650 a conspiracy was formed at Taos and spread 
as far as Moqui. I quote from Bandelier : " Y despues de algun 
tempo despacharon del pueblo deTaos dos gamuzas con algunas pin- 
turas por los pueblos de la custodia, con sefiales de conjuracion a su 
modo, para convocar la gente a nuevo alzamiento, y que dichas gamu- 
zas pasaron hasta la provincia de Moqui donde no quisieron admitirlos, 
y ceso el pacto por entonces.'" Although Po-pe, the instigator of 
the great conspiracy of 1680, was an Indian of San Juan, he seems to 
have made his plans at Taos and to have received much assistance 
from the people there. Certain it is that they were among the last to 
submit to de Vargas at the time of the reconquest in 1692. After de 
Vargas had taken Santa Fe, he set out against some more distant vil- 
lages. "The Indians of the Taos pueblo, who dwelt in a beautiful and 
fertile valley some seventy-five miles to the North, continued to be 
very hostile toward their brethren who were disposed to acknowledge 
the authority of the Spaniards, and Vargas had been requested by 
the Tanos, Teguas, and some of the Picoris Indians, to exterminate 
them."^ Arrived at the pueblo, he found it deserted. The Indians 
had fled to the mountains. They were, however, induced to return, 
and quiet was restored. 

Again in 1694 de Vargas was compelled to march on Taos. As 
before he found the village deserted, and when the people refused to 
return to their homes, he sacked the town. 

The last time when the Taos people gave any trouble was at the 
time of the Taos rebellion in 1847. The country was disturbed 
owing to the relations between the United States and Mexico, and the 
insurrection was brought about more by the Mexicans than by the 
Indians themselves. The ruins of the church within which the Pueblo 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of A?ne7:, III, p. 139, footnote. 
' Davis, T/tt Spanish Conquest of AVw Mexico, p. 341. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 1 1 

people made their last stand against the white people are still at Taos. 
The Pueblo Indian has always shown himself brave and ready to fight 
when occasion required, but peaceable and friendly toward those with 
whom cordial relations existed. 

The final word has yet to be said on the linguistic relations of the 
Pueblos of New Mexico. Five groups may be recognized — Tiguas, 
Tehuas, Queres, Jemez, and Zuni. Mr. Powell in his "Indian Lin- 
guistic Families North of Mexico'" includes Tiguas, Tehuas, and 
Jemez with the Tanos and Piros, the two latter of whom are extinct as 
distinct tribes, as Tanoan, thus giving but three stock languages 
among- the New Mexican Pueblos. 

The Tehuas occupy a compact group of villages in the Rio Grande 
valley — San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojuaque, and 
Tesuque. The language spoken at these villages is not merely a series 
of dialects of one language, but is one and the same language, under- 
stood bv all the people of all the villages. Before the Tanos became 
extinct as a tribe they lived about thirty miles south of the Tehuas,^ 
and were the southern division of the same linguistic group. The 
Oueres villages, Cochiti, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Sia, Santa Ana, 
Laguna, and Acoma, while more scattered than those of the Tehuas, 
are not separated from one another by villages of another stock lan- 
guage. The Jemez and Zuni occupy today but a single pueblo each. 
In distinction from these present relations, the position of the Tiguas 
is peculiar ; there is a northern and a southern group. In the north 
is Taos ; about fifteen miles south from it across the mountains lies 
Picuris. These two villages are the homes of the northern Tiguas. 
Nearly ninety miles southwest in a direct line is Sandia, and twenty-five 
miles further south, Isleta, the two villages where the southern Tiguas 
now live. Between these two groups are all the pueblos of the Tehuas 
and certain of the Oueres. Another noticeable thing about the Tigua 
pueblos is that the languages are not identical as are those of the 
Tehua towns, but differ so much that the people do not recognize 
them as being related to one another. An intelligent Taos Indian 
said to me:* "When people tell you Picuris speak the same language 
we do, that is not true." He, however, admitted the Picuris people 
could understand them, although the Picuris language is not intelli- 
gible to the Taos people. Of the Isleta language he said he could 

'■ Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology. 
^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 125. 



12 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

sometimes understand a word or two, and he thought the language 
would be easy for him to learn. In all probability practically the same 
statements might be made with reference to Sandia. They indicate 
simply that the separation of these four towns has been so long and 
so complete as to allow the languages to diverge from each other 
greatly, and this, too, in spite of the fact that Taos and Picuris are not 
more than fifteen or twenty miles apart, while only twenty-five miles 
separate Sandia and Isleta. It is true that the relations of towns, 
even of those belonging to the same linguistic stock, have not always 
been friendly, though their manners and customs have continued 
similar. 

Mr. Powell includes the Moqui Pueblo languages, excepting that 
of Hano, in the Shoshonean family.' The connection of the New 
Mexican Pueblo languages with any of the great linguistic families is 
by no means so certain. In speaking of the Tanoan family, Mr. 
Powell says: "Recent investigations of the dialect spoken at Taos 
and some of the other pueblos of this group show a considerable body 
of words having Shoshonean affinities, and it is by no means improb- 
able that further research will result in proving the radical relation- 
ship of these languages to the Shoshonean family. The analysis of 
the language has not yet, however, proceeded far enough to warrant a 
decided opinion."" Even if this relationship with the Shoshonean 
be established, th6 Queres and the Zuni would still stand alone. Of 
the relation between them Mr. Powell says the "conclusion that they 
were entirely distinct has been fully substantiated." ^ If no connection 
can be established for certain of these groups, then they are either 
remnants of languages once more extensive, or cases of limited inde- 
pendent development of language. 

Language is one of the important guides to relationship. The 
Indian himself can often tell you with confidence whence he came. 
We should be glad if we could meet the same problem with the same 
confidence. "To regard the Pueblos of today as anything else but a 
mongrel breed, physically speaking, would be a grave mistake."^ They 
have intermarried so long with the Navajos and Apaches, and to some 
extent with the Utes and other roaming Indians, that they are no 
longer of pure stock. This intermarrying has probably been much 

'Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. no. 
'Jbid.,^. 122. ^/bic/., pp. 138-9. 

* Papers Arch. Inst, of Atner., Ill, p. 262. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS I3 

more common since the coming of the Spaniards than before, so the 
Pueblo people of three hundred and fifty years ago were of purer stock 
than those of today. 

As Mr. Gushing has shown ' the Zuhi to have come in part from 
the south and in part from the north, and to have united to form one 
people, so it may well be of the other village peoples that they are not 
of one origin, but of several. With considerable regularity and per- 
sistency the traditions of the Pueblo Indians, as well as those of some 
Mexican tribes, refer to the north as their original home. To this fact 
we must attach some significance. Northwesterly from the Pueblo 
region are the ruins of the cliff and cave dwellers. . Mr. Gushing has 
explained the underground position of the kivas at Zuni as the result 
of years of life in the caves and cliffs, where lack of room necessitated 
the building of these sleeping places for men outside of and below the 
floor of the cave proper.^ If this explanation be correct, as it seems 
to be, the argument must apply with equal force to other towns than 
Zuiii. At Taos and at Picuris the kivas are mainly underground. 
This fact argues as plainly as in the case of Zuni that a part at least 
of the people were at one time living in the caves and cliffs of the canon 
region northwest of their present homes. Not alone the physical type, 
but also the language, and perhaps, too, the custom.s and traditions, of 
the Pueblos have been to some extent modified by intermixture with 
outside tribes. Traditions and customs, however, we should expect 
to change least. 

Reference will be made later more specifically to certain traditions 
related by the Taos people concerning their early home, but I think 
we may with safety hold to the idea that most of them came from the 
cliff-dwelling region, and that, after living for a time in several places, 
they settled in the valley where they now live some time previous to 
the coming of the Spaniards. 

The number of the Pueblo Indians at the time of their discovery 
has been variously estimated. The largest estimate is that of Antonio de 
Espejo, whose total figures for all the Pueblos would give about 250,000. 
From this number the estimates run all the way down to 23,000. 
Vetancurt gives the figures for the year 1660 at a little over 23, 000. ^ 

•"Outlines of Zuni Creation Myths," Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of 
Ethnology, p. 343. 
''Ibid., pp. 344-5- 
i Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 121, footnote i. 



14 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

Bandelier says: "The villages of that time (first half of the sixteenth 
century) were on an average much smaller than those of today 
inhabited by Pueblo Indians, but there was a greater number of them. 
The aggregate population of the pueblos in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries did not exceed twenty-five thousand souls." ' Mr. 
Gushing says: "At the time of the Spanish conquest the Pueblo 

Indians numbered, all told, more than 30,000 The total 

population of the modern towns is about 10,000."^ 

Figures given in a Census Bulletin of the Eleventh Census show 
that in 1864, when the first complete and reliable enumeration in 
modern times wa3 made, the Pueblo people of New Mexico numbered 
7,066; in 1890 there were 8,287.^ These figures show an increase in 26 
vears of 1 7 per cent. If the population in 1S90 be compared with 
the conservative estimate of 1660 (23,000), a loss of 64 per cent. 
is shown. This falling off is to be explained by hostilities between 
the j)ueblos, by raids of roving Indians, by epidemic diseases, and 
perhaps by indirect effects due to contact with the whites. United 
States Indian Agent John Ward in his report submitted in June, 
1864, says: "The greater number of the Pueblos are evidently on 
the increase, or at least .... the vear 1863 has proved very 
prolific. Notwithstanding this, however, from all that can be learned 
and from many vears of almost dailv intercourse with these people, 
I am fully convinced that in the aggregate the pueblo population of 
New Mexico is gradually but surelv decreasing." '■ This may have 
been true when it was written, but does not seem to be the case in 
more recent times, if the census reports may be relied upon. It has, 
however, to be admitted that the Pueblo people are very suspicious of 
government agents and of any white man who is inquiring into their 
affairs; so they frequently give inaccurate and incomplete answers. 

The population of Taos in 1864 the same bulletin gives as 361. 
In 1890 it was 401. This is an increase of 11 per cent, in 26 years. 
The distribution as regards sex, age, and occupation is shown as fol- 
lows : males, 213 ; females, 188 ; under 6 years of age, 52 ; over 5 and to 
1 8, inclusive, 114; over 18, 235; over 70, 1 1; heads of families, 96 ; owners 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, pp. 120-21. 
Castaneda gives 71 pueblos. Today there are 26. 
'^ Johnson'' s Encyclopedia, article " Pueblo Indians." 

3 "Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo Indians of 
Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 90. 
^ Ibid., p. 80. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 15 

of houses, 96 ; farmers, 114; herders, 4 ; day laborers, 33.' With regard 
to sex this is perhaps correct enough, but as many even of the young 
men do not know their own ages, the numbers by ages cannot be 
relied upon, nor is it likely that the other figures are more than 
approximately correct. However, they give an idea of the numbers 
of the children and the occupation of the people. 

During the time I was at Taos, three months in the summer of 
1896, two deaths occurred, both those of very young children, and a 
few months after I left I learned of the death of a woman of about 50 
years of age. During that same period of three months there were no 
births. Of course no importance can be attached to observations 
extending over so short a time. As nearly as I could learn from 
Americans living at the county seat three miles from the pueblo, the 
village has been just about holding its own during the last six years. 

Land tenure among the Pueblo Indians, as with other sedentary 
Indians, was tribal, for their social organization was tribal. Owner- 
ship of land was the ownership of a range by a tribe. This range had 
no well-defined limits. Between a given tribe and its nearest neighbor 
there was often a debatable ground to which neither had undisputed 
claim, but no definite line separated the two areas. The tribe fre- 
quently moved within its own area. This continued for many years 
after the Spaniards gained control of New Mexico. And the prevail - 
ins: customs of land tenure were not interfered with bv the order of 
the king of Spain, which, according to Mr. Bandelier, " laid the 
foundation of the so-called Pueblo Grants of New Mexico."- In 
another place it is stated : " The so-called Pueblo Grants are not grants, 
they are limitations placed to the erratic tendencies of the sedentary, 
or rather land-tilling aborigines. Previously the villages were moved 
about within the range at will, and upon the slightest provocation." ^ 
These orders were simply to say to the Indians that land outside the 
limits laid down did not belong to them, and was not to be used by 
them. It is practically these same grants which the Indians hold 
todav. 

Tribal ownership of land in its simplicity implies that an individ- 
ual merely has the use of a certain amount of land, and that, when he 
no longer uses it, it again becomes common property. But contact 

"'Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqui Pueblo IntHans of 
Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 92 

"^ Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 202. '= Ibid., p. 155, footnote. 



1 6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

with other peoples is bringing changes in the custom of tribal owner- 
ship. It is true Mr. Bandelier, in speaking of the individual owner of 
land, says : " If he fails to cultivate it, or to have it cultivated for the 
space of a year, the tract reverts to the commonalty, and is at the dis- 
posal of the ne.xt applicant for tillable soil." ' I very much doubt if 
this is still true at Taos. While I cannot speak positively about it, I 
believe the Taos Indian may do what he pleases with his land, till it, 
lease it, let it lie fallow, or sell it, so long as he does not sell it outside 
the tribe. 

The Pueblo of Taos today has a grant of twenty-seven and a half 
square miles, or 17,360^^0 acres, according to the records of the Indian 
agency at Santa Fe, and it is so stated in a bulletin of the last census. 
But Captain Bullis, the Indian agent, informed me that years ago, when 
the pueblo was often in danger of attack from other Indians, Mexicans 
had been allowed to settle on the grant on condition that they would 
assist in defending Taos against its enemies. They occupied about 
one-half of the grant, and, as ten years' undisputed possession of land 
in New Mexico gives title, the Indians, in reality, have today but one- 
half the number of acres mentioned. The pueblo itself lies close to 
the mountains, and a considerable portion of this land is mountainous. 
That which lies along the creeks is excellent pasture land, but there 
remains a great deal which can never be of any use except for mining. 
The uncultivated land is today, as the whole area undoubtedly was at 
one time, owned in common by the pueblo. The pasture lands in the 
foothills, and the mesa land north and west of the village, still lie 
open for the use of anyone in the pueblo. The only valuable piece of 
land which is not owned individually, and which is near the village, is a 
common pasture of twenty or more acres. It is so poorly fenced that 
everyone who has horses, cattle, or burros, must take his turn watching 
the stock to prevent their wandering out into the fields of grain. 

At Taos, as everywhere else, some men are more prosperous than 
others ; so the amounts of land owned vary greatly. The sections of 
land are small, but one man often owns several pieces, separated from 
one another by one or two miles. " The fields behind the town towards 
the mountain are divided by scrub willow, wild plum, and blackberry 
bushes, and seldom contain more than three or four acres."" A fence is 

' Papers Arch. Itist. of Amer., Ill, p. 272. 

= " Eleventh Census of U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Aloqui Pueblo Indians of 
Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. 100. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS I? 

not often s^en. There is a fence the greater part of the distance 
around the common pasture, and there are, besides, a few pastures 
belonging to certain families which are fenced. Sometimes a rude, 
temporary fence is built along a roadway when growing crops are in 
the fields near by. The boundaries between the plots of ground are 
usually irrigation ditches, along which grow plum bushes and willows. 
These are often very dense, and furnish a satisfactory and effectively 
marked line. 

Just east of the pueblo is a break in the mountain chain. Down 
this gap comes Pueblo creek, the principal stream upon which the 
people are dependent for their water. It would be hard to find in the 
most favored parts of New England a more attractive place than is this 
stream for several miles along its course above the pueblo. It is filled 
with trout, shaded by willows, choke cherry, and cottonwood trees, and 
bordered with underbrush. The trees end abruptly at the pueblo, and 
where the stream flows through the town both banks are clear except 
for a few low bushes. But just below the town the fringe of willows 
begins again and extends for half a mile or more. The people believe 
that if the trees above the town were cut down the water would dry up, 
so no one is allowed to cut them. Very likely there is some ground for 
this fear, though perhaps the Indians have not reached the real explana- 
tion. At one time, many years ago, there were trees growing along 
the banks within the town itself. One day a boy was lying asleep down 
by the stream under the trees and was killed by marauding Indians, 
who, sheltered bv the trees, had slipped into the heart of the town 
unobserved. This was probably but one of many similar attacks. 
Then, too, mv friend somewhat naively explained to me, they had to 
clean up under the trees every spring. So they cut them down and 
cleared up the banks. 

About two miles above the village the first irrigation ditches branch 
off from the creek. Three or four main ditches tap the stream on 
each side, and these ramify into small channels until the whole of the 
cultivated area is reached. There are other ditches to bring water 
from Lucerro creek, which comes down from the mountains a short 
distance north of Pueblo creek. One of the larger ditches was made 
by the Indians years ago, under the direction of the priests, to carry 
water to a mill about three miles away. It is still used, but now only 
for irrigation. 

Every Indian pueblo had to solve the problem of defense. Some- 



1 8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

times the solution was found on a high mesa, as at Acoma, or in a hol- 
low square arrangement of the buildings, as at Tesuque, or in a wide, 
open plain. The villages were often located n;ar some high mountain, 
mesa, or cliff, to which the people could flee in time of danger. As 
the Zuhi fled to To-yo-a-la-na, the Taos people several times aban- 
doned their homes and took refuge in the foothills beneath the great 
Taos peak, which they call Sul-hwa-tu-na.' 

But at Taos there was no cliff on which to build ; there was no wide, 
open plain. The Indians might have built their village as a hollow 
square, but instead they built great, high houses and surrounded them 
by a wall. This wall is now not more than four feet high, but it still sur- 
rounds the original area of the village, and one may still see the loop- 
holes which were left to shoot through at the enemy outside. The 
original height of the wall was about eight feet. A walled pueblo 
seems to have been unusual. Castaiieda speaks of a wall surrounding 
Cicuye, which has been identified with Pecos. " Le village est envi- 
ronne en outre d'une muraille de pierre assez basse."* 

Of the high houses at Taos there are two, one on each side of the 
creek which flows through the center of the town. "Taos and Zuni are 
the only pueblos with four and five storied buildings, and the former 
may be called the old-fashioned pueblo par excellence, with its two tall 
houses sheltering the entire tribe of four hundred souls." ^ At one time, 
without doubt, the two main houses did shelter the entire tribe, but 
today small groups of buildings, one or two stories high, have been built 
both within the old wall and outside. Today the people do not live in 
as small a space as they once did. 

These great houses were once communal, were owned by the peo- 
ple in common. There are still memories of such a condition. 
Today a single one of the many rooms, or two, or even three or four, 
are owned by individuals, and pass down from father to son or daugh- 
ter, but do not revert to the community. 

The great houses are spoken of by some writers as six and seven, 
and even as nine, stories in height. However high they may have 
been once I do not know. Certain it is that today the North House 
is five stories high, and the South House but four stories. The height 

' On a map issued with the reports of the " U. S. Geographical Survey West of looth 
Meridian " the elevation of 'i'aos peak is given as 13,447 feet. 
*H. Ternaux-Compans, Voyage de Cibola, p. 177. 
^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 265. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 19 

of the buildings could not be increased more than one story, if the 
stepped form were retained, except, of course, by enlarging the base 
of the pyramid, for the highest story of each of the houses has but 
two or three rooms. 

Mr. Lummis speaks of the houses as pyramids,' and so they appear, 
irregular, and receding by four or five great steps to the top. The 
ground floor covers a large area, according to Mr. Davis about three 
or four hundred feet by one hundred and fifty for each building.* 
The second storv recedes by the depth of one room, the third story 
recedes again, and so on to the top story. Today, with few excep- 
tions, entrance may be had to the rooms through doorways. Not long 
ago the lowest storv at least had no doorways. Mr. Davis speaks as 
if the upper tiers of rooms as well were without doorways,^ but it 
seems more likely that all the rooms, excepting those of the first story, 
always had openings in the side walls for the people to pass in and 
out, though the doors themselves were of Spanish introduction. 
Mr. Victor Mindeleff, in his Study of Pueblo Architecture, says : " In 
ancient times the larger doorways of the upper terraces were probablv 
never closed, except by means of blankets or rabbit-skin robes hung 
over them in cold weather. Examples have been seen that seem to 
have been constructed with this object in view, for a slight pole, of the 
same kind as those used in the lintels, is built into the masonrv of the 
jambs a few inches below the lintel proper." ■• Plainly, in his opinion, 
there were doorwavs in the upper stories even in ancient times. 

The onlv entrance to rooms in the first story was through a trap- 
door in the roof. One had first to climb a ladder to the roof, and 
then climb down another ladder into the room below. The terraced 
form of the houses gave a landing in front of the rooms on every 
floor, from which the people climbed to the rooms above. The lad- 
ders are still in use and are convenient and simple enough. Even 
though the houses are not the same which the Spaniards saw, thev 
probablv present much the same appearance, except for the doors and 
the chimneys which the Indians have learned from the Spaniards to 
make. The chimneys are low and stumpv, built usuallv of adobe and 
often capped with a broken pot. 

^ Land of Sunshine, Vol. VI, p. 141. ^ Lbid., p. 343, footnote. 

^ Davis, The Spanish Conquest of A^e7v Alexico, p. 343, footnote. 
<" A Study of Pueblo Architecture in Tusayan and Cibola," Eighth Annual 
Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 182. 



20 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

The windows of the Taos houses have not changed much since 
ancient times. They are usually small holes, a foot square or less, left 
in the wall near the ceiling and intended only to admit light. In sum- 
mer they are uncovered and in winter are often closed up altogether. 
I have never seen gypsum used for window panes, as it is at other 
pueblos. A curious instance of the conservatism of the people is seen 
in the fact that within the limits of the old wall the use of glass in 
the windows is not allowed. Outside this wall in a few more modern 
houses one sees a glass window or two. 

The interior of a room at Taos is very simple. I recall one in 
which a man, his wife, and two children were living. It was a room 
about seventeen feet square and ten feet high. It was built but a few 
years ago, and is unusually high, even for a modern room, for some 
are so low that one can just stand upright ; in some of the older rooms 
one is even compelled to stoop when standing. The entrance to this 
room is on the north side near the northwest corner. In the middle 
of the north side is the fireplace, where the family cooking is done. 
A little three-legged, iron frame, used to hold pots over the fire, stands 
in the fireplace. Near by, on the floor, are two wooden boxes, about 
a foot square and four inches high, open at the bottom, and used for 
stools. Against the walls on the east and south sides are rolled up 
mattresses and blankets, ready to be spread out at night on untanned 
oxhides, which lie upon the floor. In one corner is a small table; 
near it a row of four or five shelves, on which are a few American 
dishes, some pottery cooking vessels, a little coffee, oatmeal, corn, and 
a few other things. In the middle of the west side is the metate, 
which every house must have. It is a large stone about two and one- 
half feet long by one and one-half wide, and set at an angle of about 
thirty degrees with the floor. A box is built around it so that none of 
the grain will be scattered as it is being ground. The whole is neatly 
plastered about with adobe. Several slabs of stone for grinding lean 
against the wall. A gun and a bow and arrows hanging from a peg, a 
pair of deer antlers and some turkey wings on the wall, and a few 
blankets thrown over a pole suspended from the ceiling, complete the 
furnishings of this home. The metates are used to grind only a part 
of the grain. The process is too laborious. It is much easier to load 
the grain on a burro, take it to a Mexican mill, and pay a certain pro- 
portion of it to have it ground. 

Outside the houses in the open court of the pueblo, and in the 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 21 

spaces between the houses, are many conical ovens built of adobe, and 
varying from three to six feet in diameter. The Mexicans of the ter- 
ritory use the same sort of ovens, and it appears as if the knowledge 
of them came to the Indians from the Mexicans. The principal use 
to which they are put today is to bake wheat bread, and wheat came 
with the Mexicans. "No example of the dome-shaped oven of pre- 
Columbian origin has been found among the pueblo ruins, although its 
prototype probably existed in ancient times, possibly in the form of a 
kiln for baking a fine quality of pottery formerly manufactured. 
However, the cooking pit alone, developed to the point of the 
pi-gummi oven of Tusayan, may have been the stem upon which the 
foreign idea was engrafted." ' 

Behind each of the great houses, just outside the village proper, 
are several immense heaps of ashes and rubbish, the accumulation of 
many years. 

The principal crops of Taos are corn and wheat. Occasionally a 
field of oats is seen, or a few beans and peas and melons. Considerable 
quantities of squashes are also raised. Much of the corn and wheat is 
sold at the stores three miles from the pueblo or traded for meat, 
sugar, coffee, syrup, soap, cloth, or whatever else the Indian wants or 
can buy. What game he can get, deer, turkeys, grouse, rabbits, and 
doves, supplements his other supplies, though much less than it once 
did, when game was plenty and methods of cultivation were much 
more crude than now. 

In summer the work of the men is, of course, mainly farming. But 
the Indian farmer is not a very hard worker. At certain times, in 
harvest time for example, or when he is irrigating, he has to work hard 
and steadily, but ordinarily he works a part of the day and sits on the 
housetop or goes to town for the rest of the day. When spring 
comes and planting time is at hand, the land has first to be irrigated. 
Two or three days later it is ready for the plow. By the hour I have 
watched the planting of corn. Save for the figure of the Indian him- 
self one would not know but that it was an American farmer at the 
plow. Indian ponies, less often oxen, are used. Behind the one 
following the plow comes an old man or a boy dropping the kernels 
of corn which the next turning of the furrow will cover. After the 
field is planted, the oxen are hitched to a long pole by rawhide traces 
fastened to the yoke and to each end of the pole. An Indian steps 

' Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 164. See illustrations. 



2 2 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

on the pole and, holding on by the tails of the oxen, rides around the 
field to level it off. When the corn is a few inches above the ground, 
the field is trenched for irrigating. After this there is, of course, the 
hoeing, hilling, and occasional irrigating. If the water is scarce, as it 
is in July, one has to engage the use of it several days beforehand and 
has to use it whenever it is assigned to him, whether it be day or night. 
I have several times known an Indian to work in the field irrigating 
all night after having worked all day, and sometimes even two nights 
in succession. 

Modern American plows are commonly used. I have, however, 
seen at Taos two old .home-made plows. They consist simply of a 
long straight pole, another short pole fastened to it at the proper angle, 
well braced and shod with a small piece of iron. Such a plow, of 
course, merely breaks up the soil and leaves a small trench ; it does not 
turn a furrow. 

The harvesting of wheat is a most laborious task. It is done 
with a small sickle. A few stocks of grain are grasped in the left 
hand, cut off with the sickle, and laid on the ground; then a few more, 
and so on. Where the soil is poor and the wheat scattered and poorly 
headed, the crop would seem to us hardly to repay the labor expended. 
At San Ildefonso, where much of the soil is sandy, I saw the Indians 
patiently harvesting such grain. But at Taos the wheat is vigorous 
and well-headed, and yields a good crop. The threshing is an interest- 
ing sight. A circle of tall poles is set up. Then the ground within 
the circle and for a space outside is wet and packed hard by a flock 
of sheep or goats. As the Taos Indians do not keep sheep and 
goats, a Mexican is hired to come with a flock and drive them around 
till the plot is hard almost as baked clay. A fence is then built and 
the harvested grain heaped up within the inclosure. One or two 
men stand on top of the pile to pitch down the grain into the circle 
just outside, while others drive the sheep or the goats around and 
around till the grain is threshed. Sometimes horses are used, but 
sheep or goats are much preferred. It only remains then to remove the 
straw and sweep up the wheat and the chaff from the hard floor. The 
Mexicans thresh in the same way. It is from them undoubtedly that 
the Indian learned how to thresh wheat, as it is from them he learned 
how to cultivate it. 

Besides farming the men have occasionally to build a new house or 
to repair an old one, to go to the mill with grain, or to do some com- 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 23 

munal work. A few of them hire out to Americans or Mexicans to 
work in the field, to build a house, or to do other work. The pleasantest 
Avork which the Indian has to do is to go hunting. It is true game 
is not abundant, but sometimes two men will get eight or nine deer 
in a ten-days' or two-weeks' trip. They find a double pleasure in the 
deer hunt. They enjoy being away in the mountains free and alone, 
perhaps because centuries past they led such a life much more than 
now. And then, of course, they get the skins and the venison. The 
skins they use to make leggings, moccasins, and sometimes shirts. In 
winter they have little to do except hunt and bring wood from the 
mountains. To get wood with the Indian means, not to cut down 
trees and split them up, but to pick up small dry pieces, such as can 
be easilv broken to a length suitable to being made into a pack for 
a burro. This is the life of the male Indian — farming, hunting, 
house-building, making skin clothing, bringing wood, and sitting 
around. 

The work of the woman is mainly in the house. She cooks, keeps 
the house clean, does the washing, cares for the children, and makes 
her own dresses. She has also to take care of the wheat and maize 
after it has once been harvested. The wheat she winnows in the most 
primitive wav. She then washes it all in the creek to get rid of the 
chaff which remains after winnowing. This is done by partially filling 
a coarse basket made of yucca blades with the wheat. The water is 
allowed to run in through the basket, and the light chaff rises to the 
surface and is carried away by the running water. The wheat is then 
spread out in the sun and allowed to dry, after which it is carefully 
picked over by hand to find the little pebbles and sticks which may 
still be left. When all this is done, it is ready to be put in sacks and 
loaded on a burro to be taken to the mill. Sometimes one sees a 
woman driving the burros to the mill, but the men usually go. The 
women do not work in the fields except occasionally hoeing the corn, 
and this seems to be because they enjoy it rather than because it is at all 
necessarv. A few women, however, widows and unmarried women, 
carry on the lighter work of farming quite regularly. The care of 
children, except when they are very young, is not great. They are 
obedient and deferential to parents, grandparents, and even to uncles 
and aunts. The little girls, even when not more than seven or eight 
years old, take care of the younger children, while the parents are at 
work. 



24 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

At Taos today there is no spinning or weaving done. Some pot- 
tery is made, but it is of poor quality and is made only by a few old 
women and poor families.' The best pottery they get from the Tehua 
pueblos in exchange for wheat. The people say they used to make fine 
decorated ware, having learned from the Zuni. 

One of the most curious, and at the same time most characteristic, 
features of an Indian pueblo is its kivas, or estufas, as they are more 
commonly called. At Taos they are circular structures, built almost 
wholly underground, and entered by a single opening in the roof. 
There is no other opening in the room, save a small hole at one side 
to secure a draft for the fire. These kivas have come to be used as 
places for holding the civil, religious, and secret ceremonies of the 
tribe, but they were originally the sleeping and lounging places of the 
men, and could not be entered by the women except to carry food to 
their husbands, sons, and brothers.^ 

At most of the ruined towns and at most of the existing pueblos, 
the kivas were nearly or entirely underground, and they are usually 
circular. Eight ruined towns mentioned by General Simpson all had 
circular kivas, the number at the different towns varying from one to 
seven. 3 At Santa Clara today one, at least, of the kivas is above ground 
and is square. I do not know how many others there may be nor 
what their form and position are. At Picuris and at Nambe they may 
also be seen above ground, but round. So there is now considerable 
variation. There is, of course, variation in size, too, but they are usu- 
ally high enough so that one can stand erect, and about twenty feet in 
diameter. 

For the subterranean position of these rooms Mr. Gushing has 
offered the following explanation:" when the ancestors of these 
people were living in the caves and cliffs, the women built the houses 
and used them for the protection of themselves and their children. As 

' Mr. Stevenson says : " The Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, with rare 
exceptions, manufacture earthenware vessels for domestic use. The Pueblo of Taos 
may be mentioned as one of these exceptions." (Illustrated catalogue of the collec- 
tions obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 1879. Second 
Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 327.) This certainly is not true toda}'. 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., Ill, p. 143 ; Voyage de Cibola, p. 170. 

3 "Journal of a Military Reconnaissance from Santa Fe, N. M., to the Navajo 
Country," Sen. Exec. Doc. 64, 31st Cong., 1850, ist Session, Vol. XIV, pp. 55 et seq. 

*■ " Outlines of Zuiii Creation Myths," Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnol- 
ogy, pp. 344 et seq. 




KIVA AT TAOS WITH PALISADE AROrND ENTRANCE 




KIVA3 AT TAOS WITH SQUARE WALL AROUND ENTRANCES 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 25 

the level space was small, the men built sleeping and lounging places 
for themselves in the outer part of the cave, where the floor began to 
slope to the valley below. The walls were built only high enough to 
brino- the roof up to a level with the cave floor. Thus the double pur- 
pose was accomplished of providing a common room for the men and 
of increasing the floor space in the caves. When the people left their 
cliff houses and came to live in the valleys, they continued to build 
their houses and kivas in the same old way, though the necessity for so 
doing had passed. The semicircular form of the villages to be seen in 
several of the ruined towns has not persisted in any of the existing 
pueblos, but the kivas are still usually subterranean or partially so. At 
the time of the coming of the Spaniards the youths and men slept in 
the kivas and spent only a part of the day time with their mothers, 
wives, and children. The Spaniards taught them to live in families, 
and one of the uses of the kivas was gone. They continue to be used 
on occasions of dances and for council meetings of the chiefs and 
other important gatherings of the men. Yet I have night after night 
seen the governor at Taos meeting his council in a room which he 
himself owned, and set apart for the purpose during the year he was 
governor. It may be that this is done because it is more convenient, 
or it may be that the governor and his council, since they have resulted 
from Spanish influence, are of less dignity and so meet in a less cere- 
monious way. 

Another interesting thing about the kivas is their location. In the 
ruined pueblos, and to some extent in the modern ones, they are 
located outside the main mass of rooms, or at least outside of what con- 
stituted the original village. In many of the present towns they are 
found also in the open courts, or even within the great houses them- 
selves. Of course, it may be that in these cases, too, the village has 
grown around the kivas, which were once on the edge of the town. 

At Taos there are seven kivas, four on the south side of the creek, 
and three on the north side. Three of those on the south side are 
outside the old town wall and a few rods away from it. The other one 
and the three on the north side are within the wall. Bandelier says of 
the kivas at Taos that they are "completely subterraneous.'" This is 
not today strictly true. The side walls of several of them can be seen 
for about a foot from the top. It may be that they were once entirely 
subterraneous and that the earth has worn away from them, though, 

' Papers Arch. Inst, of Amcr., Ill, p. 268. 



2 6 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

from the height of the roofs and from the general level of the ground 
around, I am led to think the earth had been banked up around them 
to give them the appearance of being wholly underground. This 
holds true more particularly of the kivas within the town wall. 

It has occurred to me that these kivas in the old area of the town 
may be older than the three outside. There are two points which sug- 
gest this. In the first place, one would not expect that the sleeping 
rooms for men and youths would be built outside the inclosing wall 
and so unnecessarily exposed to danger of attack. It seems much 
more likely that they would be located near the edge of the town, in 
the most dangerous place, but not needlessly exposed. This is the 
position of the four kivas within the inclosing wall. In the second 
place, the construction of the kivas inside the wall differs in one par- 
ticular, at least, from that of those outside. The roofs of all of them 
are flat, with the opening in the center. But those within the old town 
limits have this opening surrounded by a circular palisade of wood 
about seven or eight feet high. There is a narrow gap permitting one 
to pass inside the palisade. The kivas outside the town wall have the 
opening surrounded by a wall of adobe, a narrow gap being left as in 
the case of the others. This wall is only about two feet high, and the 
space inclosed, though of about the same size as that inclosed by the 
palisades, is square. I inquired as to the reason for this difference of 
construction, but was unable to find out anything about it. 

I have been in but one of the kivas at Taos. One descends by a 
ladder, the two poles of which extend high up into the air. The room 
is just high enough for one to stand erect, and the ceiling is covered 
with soot from the fire which is lighted in the fire-pit in the center of 
the room on the occasion of any ceremony. One or two untanned ox 
hides lie on the floor, and a big drum, the skin of which is buffalo hide. 
I think the other kivas do not differ essentially from this one, save in 
the external details already mentioned. 

An interesting illustration of the old-time use of the kivas for men 
and youths only came to my notice. A party of Taos men went with 
a small company of Utes to Indian Territory. On the return, when 
within a ride of a day or two of the pueblo, two men were sent ahead to 
notify the people of their coming. But instead of coming into the 
town they told the first person whom they saw to tell the war captain 
that they had come, and went themselves into a kiva. The war cap- 
tain then notified the men of the village, and as many of them as 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 27 

wanted to went to the kiva where the messengers were. The messen- 
gers were given cigarettes to smoke and told to tell only the truth. 
They then told the story of the trip from the time of leaving the pueblo 
till they came back. But the women could not come to hear the 
account, but must hear about it afterwards. This, the people say, is 
an old custom, and so it undoubtedly is. It seems as if the explana- 
tion might be found in this : many years ago, when the kivas were the 
sleeping places of the men, it was natural enough that the men should 
go there on their return from a trip. Now, though the conditions 
have changed, the old custom is kept up. 

Of the number of kivas in a pueblo Mr. Bandelier says : "It is 
probable that, as in Mexico, there were in each pueblo as many estufas 
as there were clans.'" This may have been the case. It will not be 
easy to learn definitely, as some of the clans have disappeared, and cer- 
tain of the kivas may have fallen to ruins and all trace of them been 
lost. The number of kivas at Taos at present does not agree with the 
number of clans which Bandelier says existed there. He says there 
were thirteen gentes, and gives the names of six. If these kivas were 
built at different times, and if there is any connection between the 
number of kivas and the number of clans, we seem to have evidence 
of an increase at some time in the number of the Taos gentes. This 
might easily be from division of gentes. It may be, too, that some- 
where within the great houses are other kivas which the outsider knows 
nothing of. 

Speaking of Taos, Mr. Poore says, in one of the census bulletins : 
"This is the most independent of the Pueblo tribes both in material 
condition and in its attitude toward strangers." = This freedom from 
outside influence is seen in the dress of the people. In many of the 
pueblos one frequently sees men wearing old trousers, vests, and hats, 
and American shoes. At Taos you may see one or two men wearing 
shoes, but you will not see old American clothes worn. Their clothes 
are made usually of American cloth, but, excepting, the shirts worn by 
the men, are made in their own style. 

The dress of the men consists of a common, American-made, colored 
shirt, cotton or woolen, according to the time of year; a pair of leg- 
gings made of cheap worsted goods, or of blue or white drilling or 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Amer., III., p. 144. 

= " Eleventh Census of U.S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqiii Pueblo Indians oj 
Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, p. lOO. 



2 8 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

duck. Each of these leggings is made of a single piece of cloth, sewed 
together so that it will fit close to the leg and leave the edges of the 
cloth free to a length varying from one inch to six inches, or even 
more. The leggings come about half way up the thigh and are held 
up by a string which is attached to a cord passing around the waist. 
This same cord also supports the breech-clout, or G-string, as it is 
more commonly called in New Mexico. This is simple a strip of cot- 
ton cloth about six inches wide and varying in length. Sometimes it 
is long enough to touch the ground, both in front and behind. The 
moccasins, which are the common Indian moccasins, usually undeco- 
rated except with diamond dyes, are made either of buckskin or of 
leather taken from an old pair of American boots. The blanket which 
is worn about the loins or carried thrown over the shoulder is of 
American make usually. Occasionally leggings of buckskin are worn, 
and still more rarely a buckskin shirt. They are valued highly and 
are very durable, but since deer have become so scarce are not at all 
common. A hat is almost never worn by a Taos Indian. My friend, 
when we were going off for a week together, would give me his hat to 
carry till we were some distance away from the village, and then he 
would put it on. I suppose he wished to avoid the criticisms of the 
other men. 

The man's dress is inexpensive, simple, and comfortable. That of 
the woman is equally so. At Taos women's dresses are made entirely of 
American goods. The one garment which has sleeves is a loose under- 
garment of white cotton cloth or some light print made like a night 
gown. It is plain, except for a little ruffle about the neck and wrists. Of 
these garments the women often have but one, so that, when it has to be 
washed, she must go partly dressed. If it happens to be stolen, as was 
that of one woman whom I knew, she must go without till she can 
make another. Their other dresses, of which they have many, are 
very simple, and are made of light and dark prints. Two strips of 
cloth, long enough to make the dress large enough around, are sewed 
together. The ends of this wide piece, except about one quarter of its 
length at the top, is then sewed together. About three inches of the 
upper end, near the open side, are sewed together, and the dress is done, 
except sometimes for a small worsted tassel at the lower end of the 
side seam. The little place at the upper end which is sewed together 
rests upon the right shoulder and holds up the upper part of the 
dress. The right arm passes through on one side of this little seam 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 29 

and the head and left shoulder on the other. This, of course, leaves the 
right arm and left shoulder and arm uncovered, except by the under- 
garment. Several of these outer garments are worn at the same time. 
All the women's dresses are of such a length that, if worn loose, 
they would nearly reach the ground, but they are held up about the 
waist by a belt so that they come just below the knees. The mak- 
ing of these belts is a native Indian industry, though they are now 
made at only a few pueblos. At Tesuque there are one or two men 
who still make them, but most of them seem to come from Jemez and 
other pueblos farther west. The weaving is close and firm, and the belts 
are very durable. The patterns of many of them are very pretty, red, 
green, and dark blue colors predominating. 

The moccasins of the women are made of buckskin, sometimes of 
goatskin, and are long enough to come up just below the knee, where 
they are tied about the leg. The sole is of rawhide like those of the 
men's moccasins. A wash of white earth, easily renewed when neces- 
sary, is rubbed over the buckskin. The making of the moccasins is a 
part of the work of the husbands and fathers, who take pride in having 
their wives and daughters provided with strong, well-made pairs. 
These moccasins give to the women a very neat and rather picturesque 
appearance. The little girls wear the same sort of moccasins, but their 
dresses are more simple. When outdoors the women usually wear a 
shawl over the head. This is of American manufacture. 

On dance days and other festival occasions the women wear much 
finer dresses than those mentioned above. These holiday dresses are 
of silk and velvet, and in place of a shawl a sort of cape of silk is worn 
hanging from the shoulders. Many have a "best pair" of moccasins. 
too. They are of buckskin, but are made differently from those worn 
every day, consisting of two pieces to each moccasin. One is a very 
low moccasin coming up just above the ankle; the other piece is a 
long strip of buckskin which is wound about the leg up to the knee. 
They look much firmer and smoother than the ordinary moccasins. 
One or two silver rings, a bracelet or two, and a pair of earrings will 
make up the woman's attire. 

Before the introduction of American cloths the women used to 
dress partly in skins and partly in cloth brought from the Moqui towns 
and traded to the Taos people. These Moqui cloths are still made 
and may be seen at some of the pueblos in the Rio Grande valley, 
though they are no longer in use at Taos. 



3° ' STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

The women bang their hair and let it fall down over their eyes or 
push it a little to one side. Behind, when hastily done up, it is in a 
double T-shaped knot, bound with a mass of bright-colored woolen 
yarn. When more care is given to it, it is arranged in two double T- 
shaped knots, one on either side of the head just behind the ears, and 
tied with yarn. A pad made of combings of their own hair is used as a 
body for the knots when two are made. The men braid their hair in 
two braids and let it hang on either side of the head in front of the 
shoulders. Yarn, often bright-colored, is braided in and tied at the 
ends. 

I was not able to be at Taos on the great annual holiday, the day 
of the patron saint, San Geronimo, the 30th of September. It was so 
often referred to, however, that I learned something about it. One of 
the great features of the day is the foot race. It is a relay race, the 
runners starting at opposite ends of the course and each coming back 
to the starting point, when another runner on each side starts at once. 
The race is kept up until a runner on one side has overtaken one on 
the other, one side having thus covered the length of the race course 
more than the other. 

One can readily see that if the sides are evenly matched the race is 
likely to be a long, exhausting one, especially when run under the hot 
New Mexican sun. 

Only a breech-clout and one or two ornamental pieces of fur or 
cloth are worn. The body is, however, rubbed with a wash of white 
clay, which gives it a peculiar mottled appearance. 

This race is run at Picuris just as it is at Taos, and it was at the 
former pueblo that I saw it. There the grown men were so few that 
some of the runners on each side were mere boys. After running for 
several times they came in to the goal so nearly exhausted as to be 
hardly able to run at all. 

Not merely on San Geronimo day, but on everv saint's day, there is 
a dance. Today the people do not enjoy this dancing as they once 
did. Some men, when ordered by the war captain to dance, send their 
wives instead, and thus escape the punishment which would otherwise 
follow their failure to appear. The dances have been somewhat affected 
superficially by Christian influence, but it is probable that within the 
kivas, particularly in winter, the people dance in the old-time way, 
even though the faith of many in the importance of it all be somewhat 
shaken. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 31 

As in all the other" pueblos, so at Taos, the civil organization has 
undergone some changes during the last three hundred years. Of 
course, it is bound up with the esoteric and religious life of the people. 

An important and curious position is that of cacique, an officer 
whose duties have to do for the part most with secret and religious cere- 
monials. John Ward says, in speaking of the pueblos of New Mexico : 
"The cacique evidently has more to do with the administration of 
ancient rites than with any other business. The high regard, mingled 
with respect and affection, which is invariably shown him places him 
more in the position of an elder than any other we think of.'" I am 
inclined to think the influence of the cacique has quite noticeably 
diminished during the last few years. This certainly seems to be the 
case at Taos. The present cacique is a middle-aged man, who secured 
the office, partlv through the influence of Americans in the vicinity, at 
the death of the former cacique a few years ago. There was another 
man whom manv of the people favored, and this disaffected party now 
say of the cacique that they " do not care for him." They have, too, no 
very kind words for those who were influential in giving him his 
office. The office is for life, but does not seem to be hereditary. 
Bandelier says: "The caciqueship may be — I am not yet positive — 
hereditarv in a certain gens; but if this is the case, I hold it to be so 
only among the Tehuas, and not among the Queres."" From the fact 
that there were at Taos two parties representing candidates for the 
caciqueship one may infer that today at least there is no strict rule of 
inheritance of the office, though, of course, it may be that among the 
Tiguas, to whom the Taos people belong, it was hereditary in a gens, 
as is suggested it was among the Tehuas. From actual investigation I 
am unable to say what the duties of the cacique are, except the small 
part which he plays in the election of governor and war captain ; this 
will be mentioned later. The impression prevails among the white 
people of the vicinity that the cacique is the keeper of the traditional, 
mythical, and sacred lore of the tribe. In fact, it was because it was 
thought the present officer would be more communicative in these 
matters that he was supported for the position by the Americans. 

Mr. Bandelier further says,^ in speaking of the Queres, that in 
former times, and often today, a piece of land was tilled by the com- 

' " Eleventh Census of the U. S., Extra Census Bulletin," Moqtii Pueblo Indians 
of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of Netv Mexico, p. 81. 

^ Papers Arch. Inst, of Anier., Ill, p. 280. ^Ibid., Ill, p. 281. 



32 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

munity for the cacique. Besides he was exempt from communal work. 
While I am not certain, I very much doubt if this is now true at Taos, 
whether it may once have been or not. One fact which I learned 
points to the conclusion that at one time a certain amount of com- 
munal work was done for the cacique and suggests what his former 
position may have been. At the top of the great house on the south 
side was a room or two which belonged to an old woman. They fell 
to ruins and were rebuilt by the community and given to the cacique to 
occupy. It is there he is living today, but the rooms in all probability 
remain the property of the community.' 

The part of the government of the pueblo with which an outsider 
first comes into contact is the governor. He is elected annually and 
takes otifice on the first day of January. Although the Indians main- 
tain that this was the custom before the coming of the Spaniards, there 
can be no doubt that it is a change brought about bv Spanish influence. 
The governor is elected by the chiefs and is the executive officer of 
the village. His business is to settle quarrels which arise between 
members of the tribe themselves, or between members of the tribe and 
outsiders, to see that the irrigating ditches are kept in repair, and to 
assign times to the men for the use of the water in irrigating. As the 
Mexicans have the use of the water of the creek three days in the week, 
they may often be seen at the governor's house talking with him about 
some misunderstanding which has arisen. 

The governor, with nine officers who are chosen to assist him, has 
frequent meetings, often many nights in succession, to talk over mat- 
ters. When any announcement is to be made to the people, he steps 
out on the roof of his own house, or climbs to some high place on one 
of the great houses, and gives his message in a voice loud enough to 
be heard over the greater part of the village. It is this custom which 
has led some to speak of the "town-crier,"^ and there is some reason for 
the comparison. Son]etimes the announcement is that they must send 
their children to school ; again, that they must come out in the morn- 
ing and plant the corn in the priest's field, or, that they must not turn 

' On cacique see further, Papers Arch. hist, of Ainer., Ill, pp. 276-84. 

^" U. S. Geographical Survey West of lOOth Meridian," VII, Arc/neology, p. 483 : 
" The town-crier goes out every morning at seven o'clock to chant this strain of words, 
repeatin,?- it frequently, and another song is sung by him in the evening to close the 
day's work." It is doubtful if these announcements which are so frequentlv made, 
are in many cases to summon the people to work or to announce the close of the day's 
labor. 




READY FOR IHE KKl.AY RACE, SAN (JKRoMMO DAY, 1 AO:. 



A^^^: 










p"*^ 



t- 




■^ t,tr^ ^"^ -1 




■pirW 



^ 



iROlP OF TAOS INDIANS 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 33 

all the water from the creek into the irrigation ditches above the 
pueblo, as the women are then obliged to go too far for water for 
household uses. 

A man may be governor for several years. One old chief, who 
seems to be held in high esteem, and is one of the principal chiefs of 
the village, has been governor six or seven years, not, however, con- 
tinuously. By virtue of having once held the office a man becomes a 
chief, at first one of the lesser chiefs, but he has a voice in the election 
of the succeeding governors. 

The war captain, whose office seems to be second in importance 
to that of the governor, is also elected by the chiefs. He has a lieu- 
tenant and nine officers, making a board of twelve in all. He has 
charge of the dances which occur on festival days, and, assisted by his 
officers, gives orders as to who shall dance ; if his orders are not 
obeyed, the offender is arrested by the one of the officers whose special 
duty it is, and given a public whipping. The war captain also has 
charge of the communal meadow, and appoints each week those v/ho 
are to watch the stock there and keep them from getting into the grain 
fields. Only those who have stock, cattle, horses, or burros, in the 
meadow are appointed to this duty. If some animal does get out into 
a cultivated field, it is the war captain's duty to find out whose it is, 
and to settle the fine to be paid by its owner to the owner of the field. 
Further, he has to do with trips which are sometimes made to some 
distant place, such as the trip to Indian Territory, mentioned above. 
He decides whether the people shall go, and it is to him they report 
on their return. His title, war captain, suggests what his duties may 
have been at one time. In all probability in his hands lay the defense 
of the town, but as there is no longer any occasion for defense, his 
office appears to be of less importance than it once w^as. 

In holding these various offices certain rules are observed. When 
one is an officer of the war captain for the first time, he is the lowest 
officer; the second time he is next to the lowest, and so on. After 
being an officer of the war captain one must wait one year before he 
can be an officer of the governor. 

The important men of the town are the chiefs, their influence being 
much greater than that of the governor, unless, of course, the governor 
himself happens to be one of the principal chiefs. The importance of 
the chief appears to depend in part on the number of times he has 
been governor. Three chiefs, whose influence is greater than that of 



34 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

the Others, play an important part in the election of the village officers. 
Two men are proposed by them for governor, and the other chiefs 
vote for the one of the two whom they prefer. The cacique counts the 
votes. If this really be the only part which the cacique plays in the 
election, it is insignificant enough. Bandelier says that among the 
Queres he chooses both the governor and the war captain,' and I sus- 
pect that the fact that my informant at Taos belonged to the party 
which was opposed to the present cacique led him to minimize his 
importance as much as possible. 

After the selection of the governor, the war captain is chosen in 
the same way. The war captain's lieutenant is chosen from two of his 
officers, designated by the three chiefs. The other officers, those of 
the governor and of the war captain, are chosen by all the chiefs 
together. Besides these duties, the chiefs have in their hands the 
most important business of the tribe. Any trouble concerning the 
land which sometimes arises with the Mexicans, or any business con- 
nected with the United States government, that is, "big business," has 
to be dealt with by the council of chiefs. This statement concerning 
the officers and the chiefs was given to me by the son of one of the 
three principal chiefs. 

Of the clans at Taos I was able to learn scarcely anything. I 
inquired several times of my friend there, but he always answered that 
he did not know about any such thing. Later he told me that he had 
asked his father, and his father had said to him: "You are around 
with the chiefs all the time and would hear about such things if we had 
them." I do not know whether he was absolutely ignorant of the 
gens or was simply unwilling to tell. He did, however, say that many 
years ago the Taos people numbered about i,ooo. Part of them were 
living about one-eighth of a mile from the present pueblo, and were 
known as ha-chi-ti-pipl, or stone-axe people. They did not enjoy 
farming and so left the remainder of the people where they now are, 
and themselves journeyed away to the east. Two or three generations 
ago, when a party of Taos men were on a hunting trip 250 miles to 
the east, they came across some people who talked their language. 
They did not see the place where these people lived. It may be that 
these were the stone-axe people. Those now living at Taos call them- 
selves i-Tci-i-na-ma, or willow people. This term appears to apply to 
all those in the pueblo, and not to any one division of them. Of 

^Papers Arch. hist, of Amer., Ill, pp. 283 and 285. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 35 

course, it may be that one clan has absorbed the others, or that all but 
one have died out or wandered away, so that but one of the original 
number remains today. But it seems far more likely that the people 
are exceedingly jealous in regard to this matter, and will not speak of 
it to an outsider till he has fully gained their confidence. 

Bandelier says' there were thirteen gentes at Taos; of these he 
names the following six : the bead, water, axe, feather, sun, and knife 
clans, but he plainly says that he cannot guarantee the accuracy of the 
lists, so we should regard them as subject to correction.- 

Neither was I able to learn whether marriage must be outside the 
clan still. If the clans really have become reduced to one, there could, 
of course, be no marrying outside the clan. The parents of a young 
man appear to have a good deal to say as to whom he shall marry, 
and, although some do marry against their father's and mother's 
wishes, it is not a common thing. One young man whom I knew was 
about to marry a girl of his own choosing, when he was induced by his 
parents to marry another. It was easy to see in talking with him that 
it was simply a matter of parental preference. He preferred one and 
his parents the other, and he yielded. While he does not today 
appear actually to regret his action, he does think often of his own 
choice in the matter. 

An interesting survival, apparently of the time when a man went to 
live at the home of the woman whom he married, is to be found in one 
of the Taos marriage customs. After marriage the man goes to live 
with his wife at her home with her parents. The length of this stay 
depends upon circumstances. Then the young man and his wife build 
a new house or go to live in one which he already has. 

The old method of reckoning time is interesting. It is not a 
method which would have been equally accurate and convenient at all 
of the New Mexican Pueblos because of their location. But as one 
looks west from the pueblo at Taos, the outline of the mountains is 
much broken ; the varied forms of the hills have suggested names such 
as "pottery hill," "wolf's ear hill," " eyebrow hill," etc. Of course, 
between the winter and the summer solstices the sun appears to have 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 273. 

2 I hope some day to make a complete census of the Pueblo of Taos, as has been 
done recently by Professor Starr for the Pueblo of Cochiti, including the Indian and 
the Spanish name, and the clan of every individual. " A Study of a Census of the 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico," Proc. Dav. Acad. Nat. Sci., Vol. VII, pp. 33-44- 



36 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

moved every day a little farther north as it sets behind the hills. 
Between the summer and winter solstices the sun seems to be retreat- 
ing toward the south. The Indians had noticed the exact place in the 
horizon where the sun set every day in the year, and they knew at just 
what time the sun would reach a certain point. They thus had the 
year exact — from the time when the sun reached its most southerly 
point on the horizon to the time when it returned to it again. They 
watched the sun set from a certain tree in the pueblo, because they had 
noticed that the place of setting was different according to the place 
from which it was observed. 

They recognized four seasons : summer, called in the native idiom 
"good time;" autumn, "ripe time;" winter, "still time;" spring, 
" beginning time." This last refers, not to the growing grain and 
the budding trees and bushes, but to the work of the people them- 
selves. The summer months are May, June, and July ; the autumn, 
August, September, and October ; the winter, November, December, 
January, and February ; the spring, March and April. When one 
compares the names given to the seasons with the months which cor- 
respond to them, it is, I think, easy to see the reason for the differ- 
ences between the Indian seasons and our own. One should remember 
also that Taos is high up in the mountains and hence probably has a 
long winter. 

Undoubtedly in the old days the people did much more communal 
work than now. Individualism was not developed to any marked 
degree ; the communal idea was the most prominent one. The houses 
and lands were common property, and, although a man had a few 
things which he himself owned, almost everything belonged to the 
tribe or to the clan. Although communal ownership and communal 
activity has now almost wholly passed away, one may still see lingering 
traces of it, as in the common meadow and in communal work. I have 
mentioned the work done for the priest. The priest baptizes and mar- 
ries the people and helps them die, and in return they cultivate a field 
which is set apart for him. Wheat or corn, as he may wish, is planted, 
irrigated, and harvested for him. This work is done by all the men, 
called out by the governor as occasion requires. W^ood is also fur- 
nished the priest. Every man brings a little to the governor's house, 
and this is then loaded on burros and taken to the priest's house at the 
American town of Taos. 

Nothing remains of the old communal hunts, save an occasional 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 37 

rabbit hunt. These occur on the days before saints' days, when, of 
course, there will be a dance. A considerable number of the men and 
older youths ride away to the mesa six or eight miles, armed with bows 
and arrows, and sometimes with clubs. They drive the rabbits until they 
have rounded them up in a small area, and then kill them with arrows 
or with clubs. The rabbits are, I believe, cooked and given to the 
dancers the next day in the kivas. 

The irrigation ditches have to be repaired occasionally and, as they 
are of use to all and belong to no one in particular, work on them is 
done by all in common. 

One of the best illustrations of Indian conservatism I have seen 
was in connection with the old wall at Taos. The wall is now of no use, 
and has weathered down so that it is very low ; yet, if a section of it 
happens to fall or to be knocked over, after a time it will be repaired. 
One day some of the men make the adobes ; a few days later others 
come out and, assisted by the women who carry the mud for mortar, 
rebuild the wall to its present average height. The only explanation 
given me was that it is an old custom, and doubtless this is the main, if 
not the only, reason for doing the work. There used to be a wall 
about the pueblo, therefore there must still be one. 

One form of punishment at Taos is to compel the offender to do a 
certain amount of communal work. This is often the punishment for 
a man who does not appear in the dance, when he has been ordered 
by the war captain and his officers to do so. For offenders against 
tribal law there is a house used as a jail. This was in bad condition 
and has been lately repaired by the people. For a very serious offense, 
such as murder, a man is now sent to the territorial penitentiary at 
Santa Fe, but for lesser offenses the pueblo jail is used. One naan I 
was told of who was kept in jail a week for refusing to live with his 
wife after he had been ordered to do so. She had been unfaithful to 
him, but after his week's confinement he consented to live with her 
again. 

The linguistic relations of Taos I have already indicated. The lan- 
guage itself is rather soft and pretty, due in part to the many vowel 
sounds, particularly at the ends of the words. It is spoken so slowly 
and distinctly that one soon comes to understand a few of the words. 
But the people are exceedingly jealous of an outsider learning their 
language, and in order to gain a speaking knowledge of it, he would be 
obliged to live with the people, and completely gain their confidence. 



38 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

My friend taught me a few words, but told me I was not to repeat 
them to anyone, or even to let anyone know I had learned them. 
Even these few words were taught me when we were alone, away from 
the pueblo, in the mountains. 

The first afternoon I was at Taos a small boy of about eight years 
taught me the numerals up to twenty. He patiently repeated for me 
word after word, until I had them thoroughly learned. During the 
three months after that day I learned but one other word from him, 
and then only in confirmation of one which had been given me by 
another friend. He had, I suppose, been told by his parents that he 
must not teach the language to white people. At Taos, as at many 
other Indian pueblos, as among most Indians in fact, there is " a sort 
of sacred language." " Some linguists think that these dialects are 
archaic forms of the language, the memory of which was retained in 
ceremonial observances; others maintain that they were simply affecta- 
tions of expression and form a sort of slang, based on the everyday 
language, and current among the initiated.'" Brinton is inclined to 
the latter opinion. Whatever be the source of this " sacred language," 
it is a very common thing. The Taos people, for example, have four 
or five different words for many things, but not more than one or two 
of these words are known to all the people. The others are known 
only to those who belong to some particular society, or who have been 
initiated into some special mysteries. 

Every individual at Taos has two names ; first, his native Indian 
name, which is a single personal name, and does not indicate the 
family at all. Like other Indian names, they have definite meanings, 
and are often picturesque. A small boy whom I knew bore the name 
K'en-pi-oo-na — hare-track — because his father had noticed the track 
of a hare on the snow, and it was very straight and pretty. One girl 
was named Kw6"-fa-o — white, fleecy cloud — because such clouds are 
pretty. No two people have the same name, nor after the death of 
one is the name given again so long as it is remembered that the name 
has been used. Everyone has, also, a Spanish name, both a Christian 
name and a family name. It is by this name the Indian is known 
•outside the village among whites and other Indians, though often it is 
not known to everyone in the village, since in the pueblo the native 
name alone is used. 

Probably for hundreds of years men have occasionally gone from 

' D. G. Brinton, Avierican Hero Alyths, p. 26. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 39 

their own native villages to live at others, where often their own, but 
sometimes another, language was spoken. The cause of this was, in 
many cases, some trouble at their own homes. From Isleta four men 
in recent times have come to live at Taos, have been received and 
allowed to adopt the customs of the people. They have married, and 
have had in the four families three children, who are as much children 
of the village as any others. A San Juan man, also, came and wished 
especially to watch the stock in the meadow ; he, too, was welcomed, 
married, and had two children. A very old Picuris man is living there, 
and has been there since he was a boy. There were two brothers at 
Picuris, both of whom were married, and one of whom had three 
children. They had trouble with some other men in the village, so 
one of them came up to Taos to ask the governor if they might come 
there to live. The governor consulted his council, and consent was 
given, so the brothers and their families came. This old Picuris 
man was one of the three children, and later married a Taos woman. 
These cases were told me by a friend at Taos, and simply illustrate 
the occasional movements of these people from their own villages to 
others, where the customs are more or less similar. 

The social life of the Indian is so bound up with his esoteric and 
religious life that one cannot be fully considered without the other. 
But to speak of the religious life of the Indians, one must have lived 
with them so long as to fully gain their confidence. For this a few 
months are not sufficient. Mr. Gushing and Mr. Bandelier have shown 
in considerable detail to what extent the Indians are Catholics. The 
latter says : " The Pueblo Indians accepted the new faith voluntarily, 
and to a certain extent honestly. They adopted it, however, from 
their own peculiar standpoint, that is, they expected material benefits 
from a creed that pretended to give them spiritual advantages. In 
their conception, religion is but a rule of conduct controlling man 
while alive, and on strict compliance with which his success in this 
world depends. In short, the Pueblos looked upon Christianity as 
upon another kind of magic, superior to the one which they practiced 
themselves ; and they expected from the new creed greater protection 
from their enemies, more abundant crops, less wind, and more rain, 
than their own magic performances procured." ' And again : " It is vain 
to deny that the southwestern village Indian is not (?) an idolater at 
heart, but it is equally preposterous to assume that he is not a sincere 

^Papers Arch. Inst, of Aiiier., Ill, p. 218. 



40 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

Catholic. Only he assigns to each belief a certain field of action, and 
has minutely circumscribed each one." ' I am not so much inclined to 
doubt that the village Indian is sincere as that he is a Catholic. If 
one may judge at all from the attendance at mass, he will certainly 
think that the hold of Catholicism at certain of the villages is weak. 
I have many times at Taos watched the few who answer the call of the 
little church bell on Sunday mornings. My friend said to me that 
they had another religion besides the Catholic, and that they did not 
care for the priest, and would not care if he should go away and not 
come back. This is nothing new, but it is important because the 
admission was made, for they always claim to be Catholics. Though 
the priest baptizes and marries the people, the native rites are added 
to the Catholic, otherwise the ceremony would not be complete. 

There are some indications which lead one to think that the Pueblo 
Indian wants only the opportunity to take off his new religion like an 
outer garment, when beneath will appear the old, as it once was, worn 
at one or two points, to be sure, by these three hundred and fifty years 
of contact with the new creed, but still substantially the same. One 
may see at Taos an image of the Virgin Mary carried about the fields 
in the summer time to secure good crops. It is shaded by a rude 
awning, and accompanied by a few Mexican and Indian women, and 
some young men with rifles, which they occasionally fire off into the 
air. It is plain enough, I think, that practices like this indicate no 
adoption by the people of anything fundamental in the faith. 

A little experience of my own rather curiously illustrates the 
Indian's attitude toward religious matters. Hanging in one of the 
houses at Taos was a small plate of hammered copper, on which was 
cut a design of " our lady of Zapopan." I wished to have it, as it 
seemed to have belonged to a printing press. At first it was promised 
to me, but when I finally asked to have it, it appeared that the woman 
to whom it really belonged had hidden it. She was afraid that if she 
parted with it, some harm might come to her two little children. Both 
she and her husband, who promised it to me, feared this, because they 
had known a man who met with an accident because he had sold a 
small image of a saint. After selling it, he had gone into town, 
bought some whisky, and then rode his horse home at a breakneck 
pace. The horse stumbled at a small bridge and broke his leg. This 
was, of course, because he had sold the little figure. Naturally, then, 

"^Papers Arch. hist, of Anier., Ill, p. 222. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 41 

they might expect some harm to befall their own family, particularly 
the helpless little ones, if they parted with the copper plate, and this, 
not so much because it had a design of the Virgin on it, which was 
sacred, as because of some power in it which would be offended. 

On the whole, it seems to me that Mr. Cushing's view is the cor- 
rect one, as he has outlined it in his study of "Zuni Creation Myths." 
In one place he says: "The Zufii faith, as revealed in this sketch of 
more than three hundred and fifty years of Spanish intercourse, is as 
a drop of oil in water, surrounded and touched at every point, yet in 
no place penetrated or changed inwardly by the flood of alien belief 

that descended upon it He is slow to adopt from alien peoples 

any but material suggestions, these even, strictly according as they 
suit his ways of life ; and whatever he does adopt, or rather absorb and 
assimilate, from the culture and lore of another people, neither 
distorts nor obscures his native culture, neither discolors nor displaces 
his original lore." ' Mrs. Stevenson, in writing of the Sia, says : " While 
the religion of the Rio Grande Indians bears evidence of contact with 
Catholicism, they are in fact as non-Catholic as before the Spanish 
conquest."^ 

It is not an easy thing to realize the face of tradition and custom. 
We rarely think how many things we do because it is customary, 
though the purpose which moved the makers of the custom is lacking 
with us. But the most conservative civilized people in the world can 
little appreciate the situation of men whose whole lives are dominated 
by one long series of traditions and customs, as are those of the 
Indians. They do many things simply because it is the custom, and 
can give no better reason for doing them. These conservative forces 
are growing slowly less in Indian life, as the people learn white 
men's ways and come under American influence. But as the Indian 
is only in the childhood of culture growth, he takes the forward steps 
but slowly, as all who have traveled the same road before him have 

done. 

In the study of the traditional lore of the Pueblo people very little 
satisfactory work has been done. The mention of Mr. Cushing's 
name calls to mind the best illustration of such work. What he has 
done among the Zuni should be done in every other pueblo, or, at 
least, in every one of the four or five related groups of people. His 

' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 339- 
2 Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 14- 



42 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

work, however, represents the labor of many years and of long resi- 
dence at Zuni. 

In the traditions of the Pueblo people it is interesting to notice 
the resemblances which occur from one tribe to another, resemblances 
which are, as we should expect, closer between the Pueblos themselves 
than between them and outside peoples. The difficulty of learning 
anything from the Indians, particularly of a mythical or religious 
nature, is very great. It cannot be appreciated by one who has not 
made the attempt. So experienced an ethnologist as Mr. Bandelier 
says : " Notwithstanding a residence of over one year among the 
Queres, I never succeeded in penetrating their secrets more than parti- 
ally."' If one once takes a false step, adopts a wrong method in 
dealing with them, his influence is gone. Bandelier speaks of Santo 
Domingo having closed its doors to him. 

At Taos I was hampered in my inquiries by a circumstance which 
illustrates very well certain characteristics of the Indian. Some years 
ago, about fifteen I believe, representatives of the government were at 
Sia making investigations. Of course they had to ask many questions. 
Some time after they went away there was much sickness in the pueblo, 
and many people died. It occurred to the Sia people that the 
presence of those white men, asking a lot of questions, was the cause 
of all their trouble, so they sent men to the other pueblos to warn them 
against white men who came to find out about their customs and 
beliefs. These messengers were at Taos, and the people remem- 
ber their warning well. If a Taos Indian is caught now teaching 
the language or telling any of the traditions to a white man, he is 
liable to a whipping and a fine. This accounts for the fact that I 
could rarely learn anything from my friend when we were at the 
pueblo, although when away in the mountains he became much more 
open and communicative. 

The few myths which I was able to learn are brief, but they are 
outlines, and have some features which indicate connection with other 
pueblo myths. 

The people of Taos came original I3' from the north, where they 
lived in what is now southern Colorado. After leaving this place 
they lived for some time in northern New Mexico, and again some 
miles east of their present home. But before living on the earth at 
all, they had lived i)i a lake. When they came up from the lake, they 

' Papers Arch. lust, of Anier., Ill, p. 293. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 43 

were wild, did not wear even the breech-clout, and began at once to 
hunt the deer. While in their northern home they had many neighbors, 
among them the Picuris, who lived just south of them. One day a 
Picuris man was planting some white corn. He had some grains in 
his hand and was showing them to a Taos man, when the latter hit his 
hand from below and scattered the corn. From that time the two 
peoples were enemies, and the Picuris moved away to the south. \\'e 
note here agreement with other Pueblo myths in two points : first, that 
the people came from the north, and, second, that they had not always 
lived on the earth, and had not been created on it, but came up from 
below. The Zuni myths, as given by Mr. Gushing, are very elaborate 
in their account of the way in which the people escaped from the 
lower world, the stages they reached, the guides they had, etc' 
The Sia have a similar myth.' Among the Navajos there seems also 
to be the same idea,^ though it very likely was borrowed from the 
Pueblo people. 

Before the people came from the north, the earth was soft ; even the 
rocks were not hard, so that animals left tracks in them, which can be 
seen in the hard rocks today. All the ground was covered with water. 

This is simply the widespread tradition of a flood, which has been 
explained as either local remembrance of actual floods, or as a con- 
clusion arrived at from finding on high land shells of animals which 
live in water, or from the evidence furnished by these tracts in the 
rocks, which, to a primitive mind, must certainly be conclusive. A 
tradition of a flood may also have arisen from the teachings of mis- 
sionaries. These sources are obvious enough. John Fiske says : 
"The numerous myths of an all-destroying deluge have doubtless 
arisen partly from reminiscences of actually occurring local inunda- 
tions, and partly from the fact that the Scriptural account of a deluge 
has been carried all over the world by Catholic and Protestant mis- 
sionaries."" 

When the foremost of the men of the Zuni first came forth, they 
found the earth "wet and unstable." s The men had webbed feet 
" like those of walkers in wet and soft places." ' Later, after Zuni-land 

' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau ot Ethnology, pp. 379-84. 
^^ Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 26-37. 

3 Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 275. 

4 John Fiske, Myths and Myth-Makers, p. 152. 

5 Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 3^1- ''Ibid., p. 383. 



44 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

had been settled, a flood came from the swelling of the river and 
buried houses and many men, and was stayed only when a youth priest 
and maiden priestess had been sacrificed to the waters. ' The Sia 
also refer to a great flood which " did not fall as rain, but came in as 
rivers between the mesas, and continued flowing from all sides until 
the people and all animals fled to the mesa.'"" Here, too, to stay the 
waters a youth and maiden were cast " from the mesa top ; and imme- 
diately the waters began to recede. "^ To another feature of this tra- 
dition of a deluge at Taos reference will be made in connection with 
the Taos culture-hero. 

The hero was named Pi-an-ket-ta-chbl-la (Point hill green), a name 
which was given him because he could at any time, even in winter, 
make a hill green. This the people consider a very good name. 
Pian-ket-ta-chol-la was born at the foot of a cedar tree about one 
hundred and fifty miles north of Taos and west of the San Luis valley. 
His mother, who was a Pueblo woman, had never known a man, but she 
put some very fine pretty pebbles in her belt, and soon after this child 
was born. When the people could not find out who the father of the 
child was, they attempted to put him to death. But they did not succeed, 
and as soon as he grew older he began to look very beautiful, " like Jesus 
Christ," one of the men said to me. Now there was a time when the 
Pueblo people did not know how to dance, to make their clothes, to 
plant corn, beans, and calabashes. After Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la came, he 
taught them all these things. He picked out some different-colored 
stones, and from them he made corn, beans, and calabashes grow. 

He also had the power to fly. One time he went up to find out 
about the stars. He took off his moccasins and all his clothes except 
the breech-clout. Many people came out to see him. He had an 
eagle's tail fastened to his breech -clout behind, and on his arms above 
the elbow wild turkey wings. When there was too much wind, he 
could not go up; but on a quiet day he would go to the top of a house 
and fly away. The people would watch him grow smaller and smaller, 
till finally he became small as a fly, and then disappeared altogether. 
He went up very high in the air, as high as from Taos to Santa Fe, 
and got within a few feet of the stars. They are birds and have very 
green legs and very bright breasts, like a humming bird; they have a 
bill something like an eagle's, and very dark eyes. The twinkling of 

' Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 429. 

^Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 35. 3 Hud., p. 57. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 45 

the stars is simply the birds flying slowly. The shooting stars are 
birds moving quickly from one place to another. When you cannot 
see the stars, the birds have turned around, so that their bright breasts 
can no longer be seen, and so they give no light. Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la 
could not find out how the birds live, nor could he get near enough to 
the sun and moon to find out about them. 

But he could not only fly, he could also go down into the earth. 
In summer time he could bring up ice and snow, and in winter he 
could bring up green leaves. He could make rain come when he 
wished. 

At one time there were many people living on the earth, but much 
hot water came and drowned them all. The whole earth, even the 
rocks, became soft. This wise man made a big pile of cottonwood 
bark and got inside the pile and so did not die. While the waters 
thus covered the earth, Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la looked down into the earth 
and saw it was all green there, so he made the water go down there. 
He then came out from the pile of bark and took some foam from 
the top of the water and made people. He took different-colored 
stones and made maize and other seed. These the people planted, 
and the next year the seed was distributed, and so they had crops 

again. 

Before the Pueblo people saw white men, negroes, and all other 
people, this wise man had seen them and told the pueblo people about 
them. Of the Americans he had said that some time a people would 
come who made a noise with their shoes, like men walking on snow. 
The Indian who told me this added, with confidence : "This is true, 
because we see." He told them they would get fewer and fewer, and 
by and by would all be white men, and then there would be no more ^ 
Pueblo people. 

One cannot wonder that the influence and presence of white people 
is much disliked, especially when he considers that the birth of half- 
breeds is but a step toward the extinction of the Pueblo people, 
according to their own traditions. 

Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la is still living in a lake somewhere to the north. 
Onetime a noise, like the beating of a drum, such as is now used in their 
dances, was heard in the lake. His tracks have been seen about there 
too. " He is very old, but does not die." 

Po-shai-yan-ne, the culture-hero of the Sia, was born of a virgin at 
the Pueblo of Pecos. She became pregnant from eating two piiion 



46 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

nuts. At his birth she was much chagrined and cast him off, while he 
was still very young. He lived as best he could until he reached man- 
hood, when his magic power appeared. After a time he went to visit 
all the pueblos. When he came to the Sia, they knew, him, because 
they had heard of him. He stayed with them a while and taught 
them to hunt, and then went on into Chihuahua, Mexico. Here 
he was killed by rivals for the favor of a chief's daughter, to whom 
he had been married, but the next day he appeared alive again, 
and, though a second time put to death, by drowning, he rose again, and 

the Sia say : " He still lives, and some time he will come to us 

He may come today, tomorrow, or perhaps not in our lifetime."' 

Just as we find the Taos culture-hero Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la making 
people from the foam on the water, so the Sun-father of the Zufii 
impregnated the Foam-cap so that she gave birth to the Beloved Twain, 
who led men out from the world below to the world of light and life.' 
The culture-hero of the Zuhi who corresponds most nearly, per- 
haps, to these of Taos and of Sia was Pai-ya-tu-ma, " God of Dew 
and the Dawn."^ He is not represented as having given grain to the 
Zuhi by a single and simple act of creation, as did Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la 
at Taos, but the people had much to do in the first ceremony which 
gave them the staple Indian cereal. But after they had gone through ' 
the long rites, "out from the East-land came Pai-ya-tu-ma" and 
"touched the plants with the refreshing breath of his flute." ^ Then, as 
the morning mists cleared away, he, too, disappeared, and was seen but 
once again, when the people became dissatisfied with the way in which 
the corn custom was observed. He was sought out. He came back 
and instructed the people in the old custom, and then, "in the gray 
mists of the morning, Pai-ya-tu-ma was hidden — and is seen no more 
of men. "5 The Zufii " Po-shai-yan-k'ya, the wisest of wise men and 
the foremost," both in his name and in his qualities, shows similarity to 
the Sia hero Po-shai-yiin-ne, but in that part of the Zuiii myths which 
Mr. Gushing has thus far published Pai-ya-tu-ma more closely resem- 
bles the Sia god. 

Before the Taos people were living where they now are, other 
pueblo people lived in the valley. Traces of what are supposed to have 
been their houses may still be seen. While these people were living 

' Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 59-67. 

= Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 381. 

■^Ibid., p. 377. ^Ibid., p. 395. ^Ibid., p. 447. 



STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 47 

here, there came a big man, tall as a pine tree, and killed manv of 
them. Those who were left went away. This giant could drink out 
of the Rio Grande by putting one foot on each side of the river, 
stooping down and resting his hands on the banks, although the river 
in the valley flows between high, steep walls. The track of his foot, 
which was left in the rock before it hardened, is about three feet long 
and one foot wide. This is up in the hills, not far from the pueblo, and 
is said to be covered up now by rain wash. The giant had a boy who 
used to go around with him, and he, too, left his track on a rock. That 
of the man I have not seen, though I have no doubt there exists some- 
thing which much resembles a man's track, whatever it may be. The 
boy's track my friend promised to show me, so we went up to the hills 
one day, carrying a small rope, that we might bring down a load of 
wood, and so conceal the real purpose of our walk. The impression in 
the rock appears to be that of a man's left foot. It is about a foot 
long and four or five inches wide. After I had examined it, we scat- 
tered sand over it, so that it would not appear that anyone had been 
looking at it. The giant and the boy were at last killed by Pi-an-ket- 
ta-chol-la. 

The Sia, too, were troubled by giants. They were called the Skoyo 
and were born of the Sia women while the men were away from them 
for three years. They ate the people, catching them just as the coyote 
catches his prey, then roasting them and eating them. A virgin became 
by the Sun-father the mother of twin boys, Maasewe and U'yuuyewe. 
One day they went to visit their father, the sun, and he gave them 
bows and arrows and three sticks apiece. They then destroyed all the 
giants who were eating the Sia people, and, finally, after performing 
many great deeds, went back to the Sun-father. He sent them into 
the Sandia mountains to live, and there they still live, for their foot- 
prints are to be seen on the mountains.' 

The twin boys in the Sia myth do a part of the work which was 
done at Taos by the hero Pi-an-ket-ta-chol-la. For the boys destroy 
the giants and teach the people some things, such as organization of 
the cult societies. But other things which were taught by Pi-an-ket- 
ta-chol-la to the Taos people, Po-shai-yan-ne taught the Sia. 

In the Navajo cosmogony, as given by Mr. Stevenson, are mentioned 
two wonderful boys who went to visit their father, the sun. He gave 
them bows, arrows, knives, good leggings, and even lightning. With 

'Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 42-57- 



48 STUDY OF THE PUEBLO OF TAOS 

their weapons they then killed their enemies and went to live in the 
mountains. Before leaving they taught the Navajo people songs and 
prayers.' This closely resembles the Sia myth, and probably was bor- 
rowed from the Pueblos. 

Brinton mentions that among the Muyscason the Andean plateau 
the knowledge of their various arts was " attributed to the instructions 
of a wise stranger who dwelt among them many cycles before the 

arrival of the Spaniards his footprints on the solid rock were 

reverently pointed out long after the conquest."^ Here it is the culture- 
hero whose tracks are seen in the rocks, and not those of the giants 
who ate the people. This is not strange, as these tracks, which so 
closely resemble the impression of a very large man's foot, might easily 
be associated either with the culture-hero or with the evil being to whom 
he is so often opposed. 

It is evident that too little of the mythology of the Pueblos, 
excepting Zuiii and Sia, has been collected to permit an attempt at 
interpretation yet. I think there can be no doubt that there is at Taos 
a rich store of mythical lore ; this which I have given is certainly the 
merest beginning. 

If we are to follow Mr. Brinton in his interpretation, we have in 
these culture-hero stories simply sun myths. The wonderful man who 
teaches the people how to plant, to hunt, and to do all kinds of work, 
and who brings dry land out of the waters, is only the sun, which makes 
everything grow, which dries up the waters, and is itself necessary to 
man's existence. "The story of the virgin mother points, in America 
as it did in the old world, to the notion of the dawn bringing forth 
the sun." 3 The hero may go away or be conquered, but he is not 
killed. So "the sun shall rise again in undiminished glory, and he 
lives, though absent."" 

I Eighth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 280. 

*D. G. Brinton, ^Wif;'?V«« Hero-Myths, pp. 220-21. 

^ Ibid., p. 34. * Ibid., p. 30. 



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